Educational And Research Visas

Hi Guys,

I have a complicated scenario for you.

I'm a postgraduate student from Australia, 24 years old.

I'm planning to do research in Thailand next year. I will put my application into the National Research Council in a month's time. It takes the research council around 3 months to approve a project, so I thought I would head over to Bangkok while I'm waiting and do some language training in preparation for my research. I don't think I will have a problem obtaining a 3 month non-immigrant educational (ED) visa in order to do this.

HOWEVER, once the NRC approves my project, I will have to apply for a non-immigrant research (RS) visa. I am told that I can only apply for an RS visa from my home country, but I don't want to fly all the way back to Australia and then have to head back to Thailand again. Does anyone know how ironclad this particular rule is? Is there any chance that I would be able to apply for the RS visa from a neighboring consulate (e.g. Cambodia or Malaysia) and save myself the time and money of having to go home? Is it comparatively more difficult than trying to obtain a different category of visa? Is it even possible to enter on an ED non-immigrant visa and then apply for another category of visa before the ED visa has expired, or must I have some sort of departure stamp in my passport for my ED visa? How does it all work? ARGHHHH........

Thanks!